"American Umpire." is a new book by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, professor of American foreign relations at San Diego State University.

If sequestration is allowed to continue, it will bring big cuts to the U.S. defense budget. San Diego economists and local defense contractors are still trying to assess how big the impact of those cuts might be.

But some voices are questioning the concept that cuts to the Pentagon's budget are always a bad thing. A recent op-ed article in the New York Times, urged America to re-think its expensive and open-ended commitment to maintain military bases around around the world.

A Pentagon report puts the cost of our more than 1,000 military bases and other security installations around the globe cost $22 billion, but some independent analysts put that figure much higher.

American support or approval of bases around the globe seems to be strong, a February 2013 Gallup Poll found that 88 percent of Americans said "preventing future acts of international terrorism" is a very important foreign policy goal.

The article Come Home America, was written by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, a professor of American foreign relations at San Diego State University and author of the new book "American Umpire."